CBS: N.O. police chief resigns.

5:34 p.m.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Police Superintendent Eddie Compass resigned Tuesday after four turbulent weeks in which the police force was wracked by desertions and disorganization in Hurricane Katrina's aftermath.

"I served this department for 26 years and have taken it through some of the toughest times of its history. Every man in a leadership position must know when it's time to hand over the reins," Compass said at a news conference. "I'll be going on in another direction that God has for me."

Neither Compass nor Mayor Ray Nagin would say whether Compass was pressured to resign.

Maybe it's because he, like Nagin, peddled the atrocity stories about mayhem in the Superdome and Convention Center, stories that turned out to be pure bunk. But just what some folks wanted to hear. Digby at Hullaballoo has a great series of posts about how some people wanted to believe those stories about the "underprivileged" that Barbara Bush spoke so feelingly about.